Emma Conley (September 1869 – October 6, 1928) was an American consumer educator. She taught at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

and at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to ...

, and wrote two home economics textbooks, ''Nutrition and Diet'' (1913) and ''Principles of Cooking'' (1914).

Early life and education

Emmaline Conley was born in

Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Fond du Lac () is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 44,678 at the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the United States Census Bureau's Fond du Lac Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all o ...

, the daughter of Dennis Conley and Johanna Conley. Both of her parents were Irish immigrants. She completed a bachelor's degree at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...

in 1900, with a senior thesis titled "The Influence of Nineteenth Century Fiction on Social Reform".

Career

Conley taught at the Marathon County Agricultural School in Wausau, and at the

Stout Institute Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a number of variations, including dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout. The first known use of the word ''stout'' for beer, in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscr ...

in Menomonie, early in her career. In 1910 she caused a "near riot" by telling an audience of 600 farmers in La Crosse that high school graduates are "not fitted for any position of worth." Conley was director of domestic science at the Wisconsin State Normal School in Oshkosh. In 1913 she was appointed Wisconsin state inspector for domestic science. While based in the Midwest, she was vice-chair of the Home Economics section of the Central Association of Science and Mathematics Teachers. She was also chair of the Home Economics committee of the Wisconsin Education Association. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, she traveled the state giving presentations on wartime food conservation. "Because there will always be some people who will not live up to the regulations," she said in 1918 at a bread-making demonstration, "some of the rest of us will have to do more than our share." Conley wrote two high school textbooks. The first, ''Nutrition and Diet'' (1913), began: "The medicine of the future is prevention. The time is coming when it will be considered as gross ignorance or carelessness to be sick as it now is to be unable to read and write." Conley moved to New York, where she was worked for the State Department of Education as a specialist in

vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an in ...

for girls. She was also an acting professor of rural education at

in the 1920s.

Publications

* "A Course of Study in Domestic Science" (1905) * "Cheese as a Food" (1906) * "Why Girls Should Study Domestic Science" (1909) * ''Nutrition and Diet: A Textbook for Secondary Schools'' (1913) * ''Principles of Cooking: A Textbook in Domestic Science'' (1914) * "School Credit for Home Work" (1915)

Personal life

Conley died suddenly in 1928, at the age of 59, while vacationing with her brother in

Waupaca, Wisconsin Waupaca is a city in and the county seat of Waupaca County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 6,282 at the 2020 census. The city is located mostly within the Town of Waupaca, and it is politically independent of the town. A p ...

References

1869 births 1928 deaths People from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin West Virginia University alumni Cornell University faculty Home economists American women in World War I Women textbook writers {{DEFAULTSORT:Conley, Emma